What's In A Name
by Laura Schiller
Summary: Ichigo would do anything for her Aoyama-kun ... except call him Masaya. Why is that?


What's In A Name

By Laura Schiller

Based on: Tokyo Mew Mew

Copyright: Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida

"Aoyama-kun!"

Ichigo ran to greet me with a kiss, still in her pink waitress uniform and smelling of cake and coffee. Her shift was over; Shirogane-san and the girls were putting up chairs, cleaning up and generally closing the shop for the evening. I had come to pick up Ichigo for an outdoor study session at the park (hoping she could keep her mind on the books for once). Once she had changed back into her gray school clothes, we walked off arm in arm, as usual, with Ichigo's red head leaning against my shoulder.

I don't know why it was that day, of all days, that I asked her that question. Maybe it was what I heard in passing as we left: Ichigo's friend Retasu-san asking their employer: "Is there any pistachio pie left, Ryou-kun?" – which was certainly a change.

"Since when does she call Shirogane-san by his given name?" I asked, curious despite myself.

Ichigo giggled. "Oh, they're dating," she said. "It's a pretty new development … she's had a crush on him for a while, though. Remember I told you about that time we found Mew Aqua in the ocean, and Shirogane almost drowned? Well, Retasu saved him … she gets a porpoise tail when she's emotional, kind of like my cat ears, except it doesn't seem to happen on land. Lets her swim like a mermaid. She even gave Shirogane a Mew Aqua kiss to save his life … you now, like … "

"The one you gave me," I concluded quietly, seeing as Ichigo couldn't find the words.

I don't remember much of that night. It was mainly a nightmarish blur of Deep Blue's voice, being trapped inside my body, Ichigo's tears, and waking up on the hard floor with her red-gloved hand curled into mine. We had gone beyond death together; the experience is hard to wrap your mind around. There's nothing more intimate than that.  
"He's a bit mellower these days. Shirogane, I mean. No Mew Project, just the café … and he's definitely stopped flirting with me. That's a relief, eh, Aoyama-kun?"

Intimate, yes. And yet she still called me by the same name she'd used when we were barely on speaking terms. Even during our struggle with Deep Blue, pleading with him to let me go, she'd screamed my name as 'Aoyama-kun'. Come to think of it, that _was_ strange.

"Ichigo?"

"Yes?" She smiled up at me, her big grey eyes sparkling. As far as she was concerned, nothing was wrong.

"Why do you still call me Aoyama-kun?"

She blinked. "What?"

"We've been dating for more than half a year, you know. You … " This was awkward. "You _could_ call me Masaya."

Ichigo stopped in her tracks, making me stop as well. "I – I could?"

"I'd like it very much, actually."

She blushed, a side effect of her redhead complexion I've always found endearing.

"Ma – Masaya … "

She said my name in a hushed voice, handling it carefully, like a treasure. That made _me_ blush in turn, although with my tan it wasn't as apparent. Even my foster-parents say 'Masaya-san', in their reserved, old-fashioned way. No one had ever called me by my given name without honorifics before.

"I was starting to think you'd never ask," said Ichigo, shaking her head in a mock-complaining way. The bell on her collar jingled.

"Well, I didn't know I had to. I'm hardly an expert in the dating department, after all."

Which is true, by the way. Fangirls aside, my first everything has been with Ichigo – first date, first time holding hands, first kiss. (And what a kiss it must have been, to bring me back from the brink of death – if only I could remember).

"I used to daydream about calling you Masaya," Ichigo confided, squeezing my arm affectionately. "Even thinking about it gave me cat ears and a tail. At first, you know, I looked up to you way too much to address you like that."

"Are you saying I've lost your respect now?" I teased.

"Of course not!" she yelped. "You know what I mean. You were this big shot kendo champion, honor student, junior eco-warrior … I was awed by you. Now, see, I can tell you these things without panicking because we know each other so well. And I guess I just got so used to saying Aoyama-kun that I didn't stop to think about what you would prefer."

"To be fair, you did have other things on your mind," I pointed out. "Saving the world, for instance." Saving it from me, I added in my mind.

"Right." She made a face. "A heroine shouldn't be expected to worry about names on top of everything else."

I laughed quietly; she has a talent for making me do that.

"You have a nice laugh, Masaya," she said, stroking my cheek with one finger. "I wish you'd show it more often."

"Spend enough time with me, kitten, and I certainly will."

She meowed with spot-on authenticity (who knows what that meant in the cat language?) and formed her hands into paws, just like she used to do it as Mew Ichigo. I laughed again and kissed her, not even caring that we were on a public street.


End file.
